Book Review: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

  Title: The Immortal Rules                                             Pages: 504
  Author: Julie Kagawa                                                     Source: Netgalley
  Publisher: Harlequin Teen                                            Published: April 24, 2012
  Series: Blood of Eden #1                                              Purchase: Amazon

In a future world, Vampires reign. Humans are blood cattle. And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.

Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked—and given the ultimate choice. Die… or become one of the monsters.

Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must learn the rules of being immortal, including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.

Then Allie is forced to flee into the unknown, outside her city walls. There she joins a ragged band of humans who are seeking a legend—a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.

But it isn't easy to pass for human. Especially not around Zeke, who might see past the monster inside her. And Allie soon must decide what—and who—is worth dying for

The Immortal Rules has an amazing synopsis - one that immediately grabs your attention despite the fact that it's just another vampire novel. It's not, though. It's so much more than all the vampire novels out there. It has heart and passion and an amazing plot.

Allison Sekemoto captured my heart. She is such a tough girl, constantly putting herself on the line for the Unregistereds in her group, especially for Stick. She does everything in her power to keep her and her group alive, even when she's trying to distance herself from them so she won't get hurt if one of them dies. I love how much heart she has!

Even though there wasn't a lot of romance, it was still wonderfully written. There isn't really a love triangle, but I could see one happening if Julie Kagawa wants to write one. It'd be a heck of a love triangle, too.

The writing is amazing. It's so straight forward, but it has so much passion and realism behind it, even though it's in the paranormal genre. Kagawa's world-building is amazing and I realize now why her Iron Fey series is so popular. She has that certain something that makes the characters and world come to life.

And boy, does Kagawa know how to write a plot. Much like the amazing Suzanne Collins and Carrie Ryan, she doesn't hold back. You grow attached to characters and then they're killed off, but at the same time it's amazing because it's so realistic. On top of that, the plot is so unique. Dystopian meets paranormal? Sign me up any day. Especially if it's Kagawa writing it.

Overall, I loved The Immortal Rules. It grabbed my interest and held it for all 504 pages (which is no easy feat!) and I would highly recommend it to any vampire, paranormal, or dystopian lover. I would recommend it to anyone actually.

Pass or Read? Read right now!

Cover thoughts: Not a terribly unique cover, but I'd totally pick it up in a bookstore. I love how she's crying blood, but I wish she look just a tad bit more Asian, or her face was shorter or something, as that's how I pictured Allison. I really like the colors as well on this one!

In My Mailbox 30: Late/Purple Edition

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren and is a weekly meme to showcase what you got over the week by buying, receiving, borrowing, stealing from a friend etc.


Luxury Reading:
Endlessly by Kiersten White - I am so excited I get to review this! I love the Paranormalcy series so much and I can't wait to find out what happens to Evie next!
Fated by Alyson Noel - Started this but I'm only on page 40 or something. So far it's very interesting and different than I thought it was going to be by reading the synopsis.

Review:
Purity by Jackson Pearce - This one sounds amazing! I'll definitely be reading this one as soon as I have the chance.

Thank you Little, Brown and Vera at Luxury Reading!
That's all I got this week or so, what did you get in your mailbox?

Book Review: Starters by Lissa Price

  Title: Starters                                                                 Pages: 368
  Author: Lissa Price                                                       Source: Netgalley
  Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers    Published: June 12, 2012
  Series: Starters #1                                                       Purchase: Amazon

HER WORLD IS CHANGED FOREVER...

Callie lost her parents when the Spore Wars wiped out everyone between the ages of twenty and sixty. She and her little brother, Tyler, go on the run, living as squatters with their friend Michael and fighting off renegades who would kill them for a cookie. Callie's only hope is Prime Destinations, a disturbing place in Beverly Hills run by a mysterious figure known as the Old Man.

He hires teens to rent their bodies to Enders—seniors who want to be young again. Callie, desperate for the money that will keep her, Tyler, and Michael alive, agrees to be a donor. But the neurochip they place in Callie's head malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her renter, living in her mansion, driving her cars, and going out with a senator's grandson. It feels almost like a fairy tale, until Callie discovers that her renter intends to do more than party—and that Prime Destinations' plans are more evil than Callie could ever have imagined...

Starters is a great example of the wonderful dystopian novels that are coming out lately. It has heart, action, incredible sci-fi moments and an awesome, brave heroine.

I loved Callie. She had so much of her heart to give, especially to her brother. She loved him unconditionally and did anything it took to keep him alive, including selling her body to the Body Bank and the Enders that rented her. I loved how much she cared about everyone and how much ambition she had!

If you're looking for a highly romantic book, you will not find it with Starters. While it has romance in it, it is not in the forefront as most other novels. This did not bother me in the least and I thought Lissa Price did a fabulous job writing the romance.

The plot is really fast paced and just plain great. I loved it from the minute I started and did not once lose interest. Some of the twists I saw ahead of time, but there are a few that just blew me away.

While the ending was not totally wrapped up (because of there being a sequel!), I was greatly satisfied and I felt like it was partly resolved. To me, this is how all great dystopian novels are: book one introduces a "big problem" and a "smaller problem" that gets resolved by the ending, book two keeps the "big problem" going and introduces another "smaller problem" and depending on if this is the final book, both big and small problems get resolved. If a novel does not follow this formula, I am usually left feeling unsatisfied with the first book of the series.

Overall, I loved Starters and would definitely recommend it to any dystopian or light sci-fi fans. I will definitely be reading the sequel, Enders!

Pass or Read? Read right now!

Cover thoughts: This is by far one of the most unique covers I've seen. I mean, the girl is completely white except for her eyes! I've never seen that before and since it's so bright and unique, it can definitely attract attention in a book store!